Trump vows to get to the bottom of ‘Russian hacking’ claims within 90 days

President-elect Donald Trump is vowing that his administration will clear up any confusion over claims that Russia hacked the 2016 election during his first months in office.

Trump made the promise in a series of tweets Friday, wherein he expressed disgust that “sleazebag political operatives” from both parties are working to spread fake news in an effort to cause irreparable harm to the credibility of his incoming administration.

Trump said via Twitter: “It now turns out that the phony allegations against me were put together by my political opponents and a failed spy afraid of being sued….

“Totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives, both Democrats and Republicans – FAKE NEWS! Russia says nothing exists,” the president-elect continued. “Probably released by ‘Intelligence’ even knowing there is no proof, and never will be. My people will have a full report on hacking within 90 days!”

Trump lambasted intelligence agencies, most notably the CIA, last month after officials made public statements that the Russian government may have somehow assisted in the president-elect’s victory.

As more evidence about the source of the salacious material regarding Trump published earlier in the week comes to light, it’s looking increasingly like hidden factions within the government are colluding with public officials with an axe to grind with Trump to create problems.

But, as Paul Craig Roberts pointed out Friday, the intelligence attacks on Trump are less personal than they are about making it impossible for him to normalize relations with Russia.

He wrote:

We can see how the military/security complex’s sabotage of Trump’s policy works. Constant accusations have forced Trump to say that possibly the Russians were involved in a hacking that never occured, neither by Russia nor anyone else. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Tillerson, has to declare Russia to be a threat in his confirmation hearing in order to be confirmed. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Mattis, has had to say in his confirmation hearing that the US needs to be prepared to confront Russia militarily, adding that there are few areas in which the US can cooperate with Russia which he says is trying to break NATO.

We could dismiss Trump’s admission as throwing a bone to the CIA so they can feel vindicated and get off his back, and the statements by Tillerson and Mattis could be dismissed as what has to be said in order to be confirmed. Nevertheless, these statements from Trump’s top appointments are being used as confirmations that everyone except Trump, even Trump’s own government, realize that Russia is a threat.

Let’s hope that Trump’s administration is able to quickly put to rest the claims being made about his relationship with Russia. Because if he can’t, his ability to reach a diplomatic solution to the worsening tension between the two countries is nonexistent.